Whiteside's birdies lift's team 10-strokes ahead

Published 6:13 pm, Saturday, July 24, 2010

A blistering wind prevented most of the teams at this year's Blowout at Ranchland Hills Golf Club from posting low scores in the second round.

Most teams, but not all.

The group made up of Will Christensen, Brett Douglas, Bobby Whiteside and Chris Hubbard shot two strokes better than their first-round effort on Friday, coming in with a 15-under 125. That score coupled with Friday's 13-under effort gives the leading foursome a 10-stroke lead heading into today's final round.

"We just putted well," Whiteside said. "The conditions didn't affect us too bad because of that."

Whiteside led the group with six birdies on holes 1, 2, 4, 11, 13 and 14. While his foursome excelled on Saturday, the other five teams in the championship flight couldn't come close to equaling that performance.

Coming into the second round, Christensen, Douglas, Whiteside and Hubbard were tied with the foursome featuring Troy North, Greg McClendon, Cody Childers and San Smith. However, the latter group couldn't repeat their first-round score of 127, shooting 10-strokes worse in the second round at 137 and leaving them 12 strokes off the lead.

The team of Chad Campbell, Chris Baltzell, Chris Goff and Josh Lawson equaled their first-round total of 131 for a two-day score of 262, placing them in second and 10 strokes off the pace.

Even with a double-digit lead, Whiteside says his team will play confidently in the final round today, but know that another strong performance is key in taking home the title.

"The final round is always important," Whiteside said. "We're just trying to make some more putts and get it done."